In global capitalism, artists are no longer the "outsiders" of the labour system but the exemplary model of the self-employed, self-exploited, full-time freelancer. Art is not a space of freedom but of reproduction of market logic of production and distribution. Through a review of the history of CASo del Centro de Arte Sonoro, an institution of the National Ministry of Culture in Argentina, we will address some problems related to the role of a public institution, the work of artists, logic of collectivisation and oxygenation of creative processes, strategies of murky and mutant cultural management to divert public resources to strengthen the common good and that the liberation of the artist's work really constitutes a political commitment that can, of course, be extended to others.
On the other hand, we will present and discuss some projects that have been part of CASo's programming in recent years, including Radio CASo and a Latin American network of experimental radios, with the aim of opening up questions about how an institution can listen to a community, to its territories of action, to its time. And what are some specificities of curatorial, management and listening practices in Latin America.
The talk will be led by Florencia Curci, director of CASo.
22.11.2023, 19:00 CET,
CASo
The Centro de Arte Sonoro / Sound Art Center (CASo) is the first institution in Argentina dedicated to the research, creation and dissemination of artistic practices based on sound and listening.
Created in 2017 and located since then on the third floor of the Casa Nacional del Bicentenario, CASo generates situations of encounter and critical reflection through the production of exhibitions, concerts, workshops, residencies and publications. At the same time, Radio CASo offers a continuous programme of music, radio experimentation, interviews and podcasts.
The activities of the Centro de Arte Sonoro encourage the participation of musicians, artists and researchers from Argentina, Latin America and the rest of the world, and are open to both amateurs and the general public.
CASo carried out projects with the Centro Cultural Kirchner, Bienal Sur, Instituto Nacional de Musicología Carlos Vega, Instituto Nacional de Antropología y Pensamiento Latinoamericano, Museo Nacional del Cabildo, Museo Histórico Nacional, Museo Casa de Ricardo Rojas, Manzana de las Luces and InTAD, the national universities UNTREF, UNSAM, UNDAV and UNQ and the festivals RUIDO and Byte Footage. It has also collaborated with international institutions such as Festival Tsonami (Chile), Festival en Tiempo Real and Festival Transversal Sonora (Colombia), Worm Radio Station (Holland), P-node (France), Escuela Universitaria de Música (Uruguay), Indonesian Embassy in Argentina, Goethe-Institut, Open House London and British Council.
The Centro de Arte Sonoro is a collective learning platform and a space in permanent mutation. Its quest focuses on approaching theory from practice and questioning established ways of experiencing listening, with the aim of redefining the public scope of a cultural institution.
FLORENCIA CURCI
Florencia Curci is an artist and cultural manager working in Buenos Aires, Argentina. From radioactivism and artistic research, she seeks to generate common tools for resistance to the monoculture of the living. She addresses specific territorial problems in a situated way, generating instances of encounters with communities through experimental listening and sounding practices. Her work takes the shape of nomadic radio broadcasts, participatory cartographies, sound installations, performances and listening practices in the field.
She is the director of the Centro de Arte Sonoro (Argentina) since its foundation in 2017. In 2020 she started Radio CASo, the first experimental music and sound research radio station in Argentina. She is also co-curator of the RUIDO Festival, dedicated to the circulation of experimental artists from Argentina, Latin America and the world.
Florencia Curci is currently participating in the collective projects Terra Ignota (interdisciplinary research in Tierra del Fuego, Patagonia and Antartica) and Lithium Republic (a platform dedicated to understanding layers of governance of territory in its collision with the global machine).
Secondary sources
Centro de Arte Sonoro (Publications, Audio Archive)
PAN - Panorama de Audioexperimentación Nacional
Artists and works quoted during the talk:
Nicolás Varchausky - Archivo PAIS
Sound art platforms and festivals in Latin America:
Experimental radios:
Writings and theory on sound from Latin America: